''Koozå'' is a touring circus production by
Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil (, ; ) is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, Montreal, Saint-Michel, Montreal, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Jun ...
which premiered in
Montréal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
, Quebec, Canada, in 2007. The show was written and directed by
David Shiner, who had previously worked as a clown in Cirque du Soleil's production of ''
Nouvelle Expérience''. His experience as a clown and his time with Switzerland's
Circus Knie and Germany's
Circus Roncalli informed his work on ''Koozå''.
Acts
Acts currently in the show include:
* Charivari (opening)
* Contortion
* Aerial silks
* Duo Unicycle
* Clown
* Double Highwire
Intermission
* Skeleton Dance (choreographed dance number)
* Wheel of Death
* Hoops manipulation
* Clown
* Chair balancing
* Teeterboard
* Finale
Acts in Rotation:
* Diablo
* Icarian Games
* Solo Contortion
* Duo Contortion
Retired acts:
* Juggling
* Pickpocket
* Hand-to-hand (Réserve)
* Cyr wheel (Réserve)
* Solo Trapeze
* Aerial Hoop
* Aerial Straps
* Handbalancing (Réserve)
Costumes
Reflecting Cirque du Soleil's return to more traditional circus arts with clowning and acrobatics, Marie-Chantale Vaillancourt (costume designer) chose a colour palette more in line with traditional circus and
burlesque: red, white, and gold. ''Koozås costumes are designed from the point of view of a character called the Innocent. The Innocent's costume itself has horizontal stripes and is very ill-fitted, with long sleeves and pant legs too short, illustrating his childlike naïvety. The other main character, the Trickster, is impeccably dressed, with the same coloured stripes as the Innocent, yet his are vertical. The stripes are aligned to such a degree that the lines run directly in line from headpiece to shoe. Much detail was put into piecing the wool-lycra blend pieces together to show the Trickster's mischievous and all-powerful character.
Inspiration for the characters was drawn from
graphic novels and
comic book
A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...
s,
Gustav Klimt paintings, as well as Indian and Eastern European art. As ''Koozå'' is dreamt of by the Innocent, many costumes are designed to impress the audience with ideas of children's toys, soldiers, and children's stories. Many of the costumes are also designed to metamorphose. For example, the
Charivari performers have controls at their fingertips that will turn their costumes from gold to red in the blink of an eye. These metamorphosis effects were inspired by
quick-change artists and
magicians.
Music
Composed by Jean-François Côté, the show's music was inspired by the
music of India,
pop music
Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...
, 1970s
funk, orchestral music, and film scores from the 1940s and 1950s. Below is a list of the tracks featured on the CD, which was released on June 24, 2008. The items in parentheses indicate the related act.
;Songs found in the album
# Koozå Dance ''(Skeleton dance)''
# Superstar I ''(Juggling / Diabolo)''
# L'innocent ''(Charivari, pt 1)''
# Royaume ''(Charivari, pt 2)''
# Junoon ''(Contortion)''
# Alambre Alto ''(High wire)''
# 16-Papillon ''(Solo trapeze / Aerial sillks / Aerial hoop)''
# Pearl ''(Unicycle duo, pt 1)''
# Cabaret Sata ''(Unicycle duo, pt 2)''
# Aankh Micholi ''(Pickpocket)''
# Diables ''(Wheel of death, pt 1)''
# El Péndulo de la Muerte ''(Wheel of death, pt 2)''
# Petit-Jaune ''(Opening)''
# Superstar II ''(Juggling / Diabolo)''
# Imposteur ''(Entr'acte, intro to pickpocket)''
# Prarthana ''(Balancing on chairs, pt 1)''
# Don't be Afraid ''(Balancing on chairs, pt 2)''
# Hum Jaisa Na Dekha ''(Teeterboard)''
;Other songs:
* Démons II ''(Hand to Hand (original back-up act version) )''
* Ao Na ''(Hand to Hand / Cyr Wheel)''
* High Wire Setup Chase ''(Clown Transition / High Wire Setup)''
* High Wire Rock ''(High Wire Intro)''
* Chaise Drone ''(Balancing on chairs Intro)''
* Verto Divum ''(Hula Hoops)''
* Clown Baroque ''(Clown act)''
Vocalists
Spirit Singer (formerly Indian singer)
*Tara Baswani – from April 2007 (Montreal) to January 2013 (London)
*Meetu Chilana – from 2009 to 2010
*Naomi Zaman – from January 2013 (London) to April 2013 (Madrid)
*Dorothée Doyer – from May 2013 (Bilbao) to June 2014 (Vienna)
*Mary-Pier Guilbault – from June 2014 (Vienna) to December 2015 (Vancouver), From August 2017 (Singapore) to 2020 (Sevilla)
*Alessandra González – from March 2016 (Montevideo) to August 2017 (Singapore)
*Kathryn Holtkamp – from January 2022 (Punta Cana) to Present
Soul Singer
*Theresa Bailey – from April 2007 (Montreal) to October 2007 (Toronto)
*Cinda RamSeur – from November 2007 to January 2011 (Miami)
*
Vedra Chandler – from February 2011 (Tokyo) to April 2015 (Bern)
*Nathaly Lopez – from June 2015 (Columbus) to April 2016 (Montevideo)
*Jennlee Shallow – from April 2016 (Buenos Aires) to July 2016 (Santiago)
*Lisa Ramey – from August 2016 (Sydney) to August 2017 (Singapore)
*Lyrika 'Erica' Ball-Holmes – from August 2017 (Singapore) to June 2018 (Hong Kong)
*Tymara Walker – from June 2018 (Changsha) to March 2019 (Auckland)
*Joanie Goyette – from May 2019 (Valencia) to March 2024 (San Francisco)
*Suzanne Perkins – from March 2024 (San Francisco) to Present
Filmography
''A Thrilling Ride through Koozå'' was the first film release related to Cirque du Soleil's show, ''Koozå''. This short documentary was directed by
Roger Cantin and released in September 2007. It was shot on location in Montréal, Canada.
Cirque du Soleil released a film production of ''Koozå'' in September 2008. The film was directed by Mario Janelle and produced by Jacques Méthé. It was shot using eight high-definition cameras on location in Toronto, Canada.
Incidents
Due to the
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
On 11 March 2011, at 14:46:24 Japan Standard Time, JST (05:46:24 UTC), a 9.0–9.1 Submarine earthquake, undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. It lasted approx ...
, the artists and staff of ''Koozå'' were temporarily relocated to
Macau
Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...
where they continued training at Cirque du Soleil's resident show ''
Zaia''. The major benefit of relocating there is that the team can partner with the crews of ''
Zed'' (which was also relocated from Japan) and ''Zaia'' at the Macau training facilities. Artists were also able to connect with artists from The House of Dancing Water, the water-based show at The City of Dreams by former Cirque du Soleil director
Franco Dragone. Shows running from March 11 through April 9 were cancelled. The troupe returned and started performances again after facility management had conducted a thorough safety inspection.
On 27 November 2016, gymnast
Lisa Skinner suffered a fractured neck and broken arm during a solo aerial hoop performance in Brisbane, Australia.
On 24 August 2024, Russian aerialist Mariia Konfektova was hospitalized after a fall during a solo aerial hoop performance in Portland, Oregon.
References
External links
Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kooza
Cirque du Soleil touring shows